Chrenkoff

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Monday, August 16, 2004

Good news from Iraq, Part 8

Note: Also available from the Wall Street Journal's "Opinion Journal". Once again, thanks to James Taranto and Brendan Miniter for their support. Also thank you to all the readers who have sent in links to news stories, and thank you for all of you for helping to spread the good news.

As "Boston Globe" columnist Jeff Jacoby writes, "The press tends to emphasize what's going wrong in Iraq because of an inbuilt bias for the negative - only the plane that crashes, not the 999 that land safely, make news. The result is that while the bad news in Iraq gets reported everywhere, the reports of good news you have to look for." For the sake of fairness, one might add that in Iraq it's perhaps 10 or 20 planes that crash, yet even with that caveat the mainstream media coverage often gives ones the impression that the whole Iraqi air fleet has gone down in flames.

The past two weeks have not been an exception, with the news from Iraq dominated by more hostage crises, the oil shock, continuing terrorist campaign and a sequel to the Shia uprising. Good news, once again, was few and far between. Yet progress continues to be made on the ground in Iraq, even during the most dangerous of times and often against the odds that we - so insulated by the safety, comfort and predictability of life in the West - can hardly even begin to comprehend.

The challenges still ahead in Iraq are considerable, but the media in its manic rush from one disaster to the next and from one "quagmire" to another rarely provides the context that would help us understand the situation. Having followed the mainstream media coverage, one can be forgiven for thinking that our task in Iraq is merely to return the country to its pre-war status quo. More often than not lost in reporting is the realization that Iraq has to recover not just from the violence and destruction of the last year and a half, but of the past 30 years. Iraq of March 2003 was not a normal, well-functioning state thrown into chaos and mayhem only by the arrival of the Coalition forces. In reality, the pre-invasion Iraq was a wreck of a country whose great potential of the 1950s and 1960s has been all but completely squandered for the sake of the aggrandizement of one man and the hegemony of his party. It's important to bear that in mind before rushing to criticize the Coalition authorities for failing to rebuild in a year what took three decades to destroy.

That the Iraqi people are not giving up on their desire to overcome the tragic and soul-destroying legacy of the Baath Party misrule and are courageously forging ahead with their new lives is truly a testament to the power of the spirit and human tenacity.

SOCIETY: The elections are scheduled for January 2005. The national conference to select an interim national assembly is set to be taking place as you're reading these words. In the meantime, the new generation of leaders is getting a crash course in democratic governance. A group of 14 Iraqi women is visiting the United States to get acquainted with the American political process and learn lessons which might be put to a good use at the next year's poll. The group, which already visited Washington and the Democratic National Convention in Boston, includes among others Taghreed Al-Qaraghuli, "a Baghdad resident who says she was denied the chance to pursue her education when she refused to join Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. Al-Qaraghuli is an active member of the Iraqi Independent Women's Group, a political party formed last year to advocate for equal rights." In all, some 50 non-government women's organizations have sprung up in Iraq recently; many women are getting involving in politics and civic life. "We succeeded in getting a target of 25% of women to be included in decision-making positions [in the new Iraqi government]. Now we have to train enough women to take on those jobs," says Tamara Sarafa Quinn, a Chattanooga resident, who helped organize the delegation. You can also read about the group's visit to Chicago (also here), and Michigan.

Meanwhile, another Iraqi delegation, which includes three mayors and an assistant provincial governor, is also traveling around the United States, "hoping to glean some insight into how communities here deal with divergent populations and opposing perspectives." The tour has been sponsored by the U.S. State Department and included stops in Washington, DC, Memphis, Los Angeles, and Chicago. "Many of the delegates' questions focused on 'how to bring different factions together to ensure broad-based representation in government,' says Judy Rambeau, Assistant to the [Santa Monica] City Manager for Community Relations, including 'Christian women in male- and Muslim-dominated neighborhoods.' They also wanted to know how to get people - 'especially young people' - interested in voting." Michael Moore is wrong yet again; the insurgents are not Iraq's version of Minutemen. It's these people instead, who are Iraq's own Founding Fathers and Mothers.

On the macro political scale, the concept of federalism is attracting increased attention in Iraq: a mini-congress which met in the southern city of Basra has recently proposed a formation of a southern province out of exiting provinces of Basra, Zikar and Missan. "Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, blessed the proposal in a speech read to the congress on his behalf, saying it will be part of a democratic, federal and united Iraq."

And one of the preconditions of a healthy, democratic society - freedom of speech - continues to revive on Iraqi streets:

"Saddam Hussain would be grumbling in his prison cell if he knew.

"Al Mutannabi Street, the book-lined alley whose spirit he tried for decades to crush, is again filled with customers, from communists to clerics, who would once have faced jail for reading some of the material on offer.

"One man browsing the stalls was Sami Al Mutairy, a one-eyed poet and playwright who wrote The Tribes of Fear, a thinly veiled attack on Saddam's attempts to sow ethnic disunity. He was imprisoned and tortured by the Baath party's secret police.

" 'They used a ring to grind out my eye,' he said. 'They said I was a communist. Well, that was true enough - I am a Trotskyite. But I don't think the punishment fitted the crime'."

On the health front, this report provides a much needed context to reconstruction efforts: "Health Minister Ala'adin Alwan says three wars, international economic sanctions, and years of neglect under Saddam Hussein degraded a once advanced health care system to the point of almost complete collapse. Health statistics took an equally precipitous drop since the 1991 Gulf War, with life expectancy, for example, declining from 67 years to 59...

"Rebuilding Iraq's health care system is almost like starting from the beginning, and that is precisely where American government and Iraqi Health officials began when the U.S. led-coalition forces took control of the country in April, 2003...

" Iraq spent only $20 million on health care in 2002. Now, the Ministry of Health has a $1 billion budget. Most of the money comes from oil revenues, but the United States and other nations are supplementing this as the result of last year's donors conference in Madrid. This does not mean the Ministry is awash in money, but the increase has raised health care spending from 68 cents per Iraqi in 2002 to about $40 today.

"As a result, Iraq's 240 hospitals are running despite severe shortages of medicines and other supplies and staff are being paid after going unsalaried for months leading to the 2003 war."

In another health news, the number of AIDS cases in Iraq is staying low, with only 67 listed as suffering from the disease. Their treatment is being fully funded by the government.

In the field of education, Iraqi academics continue to benefit from the assistance of their Western colleagues. A group of 14 Iraqi lecturers from the universities in Dohuk, Sulaiymania, Kirkuk and Arbil are currently taking part in a summer training course at Huddersfield Technical College in the United Kingdom, to bring themselves up to date with teaching and marketing methods and the use of information technology, which was restricted under Saddam's reign. The course is funded by the British Council and was initiated by Rasheda Zaher Draey, of the Huddersfield College, who while visiting Iraq in 2001 had noted the outdated teaching methods and limited resources at Iraqi universities.

In the media news, Royce Bitzer and Shafi Shaafi of the Human Service International group are conducting talks with the authorities at Basra University to start a newspaper, tentatively called "The Times of Humanity". The paper would focus on providing Iraqi readers with good news about the reconstruction of their country. Bitzer and Shaafi are currently also at work to restore Iraq's southern marshes and create a training program for teachers.

Meanwhile, Baghdad's favorite radio station, Radio Dijla, continues to be a huge hit with the audience: "At the studio microphone - as he is for a remarkable seven hours a day discussing everything with his listeners from politics to pop music, sewage to suicide bombing, corruption to conjugal disharmony - Baghdad's top jock, Majid Salim... How has life changed [since Saddam's overthrow]? Well, [Salim] says with a smile, for one thing you couldn't mention, let alone play the music of, Iraq's most popular singer, Kazem al-Saher, after he failed to turn up to a birthday party of Uday Hussein. More seriously, he says: 'You couldn't mention the word Kuwait. Or Iran.' He adds: 'Now I have the freedom of giving my opinion as a presenter and to encourage the listeners to give theirs'." In another story, Salim reminisces about his old radio days under Saddam:

"Sometimes I accused some ministers and ministries of corruption and bribery... Uday's security would come, shave my head, beat my legs and I would go back into the studio and continue my program."

Now, all that Salim has to worry about are the ratings. On TV, meanwhile, a new station is filling the entertainment vacuum in Iraqi lives:

"The Al-Sharqiya network, launched in June with an initial budget of $30 million, has eagerly sought to fill Iraqis' need for diversion with soap operas, reality shows and music videos...

"Shows in the works include 'Chaif Kheir,' or 'Blessed Wedding,' in which the network funds a young couple who would otherwise be too poor to tie the knot. In exchange, the couple allows the show to tape their wedding, honeymoon and domestic life.

"Another show, which could be called 'Iraq's Most Nostalgic Home Videos,' will show footage of Iraqis living abroad to folks in the emigres' old neighborhoods back home in Iraq, who will then reminisce about the good old days.

"Al-Sharqiya's female newscasters are conspicuously young, beautiful bottle-blondes wearing flashy, low-cut blouses. More prevalent than footage of Mideast violence are music videos of Egyptian, Lebanese and Iraqi exile pop stars. The men sing; the women wear skimpy miniskirts and dance in the background."

Trash TV? Perhaps, but who are we to deny it to the Iraqis after three decades of nightmare? "Blessed Wedding" must make a nice change from the obligatory daily dose of Saddam only a year and a half ago.

Meanwhile, a satellite TV channel, Al Fayhaa, has started broadcasting into Iraq from the United Arab Emirates. In the words of Iraqi blogger Alaa: "This station seems to be an answer to our prayers with a clear patriotic message, which can be understood by the simple people. This is the first attempt at talking plainly to the people with a direct anti terrorist message reassuring and encouraging the ordinary man and spreading the ideas of hope and democracy."
In sports news, the new Iraqi Olympic team has been farewelled with these words from Ahmed al-Samarrai, Iraq's Olympic committee chief: "The sports field brings together people of all countries, backgrounds and religions... In that respect it is emblematic of the new Iraq. Lifting the Iraqi flag over the skies of Athens will be a great defining moment for our country." Al Samarrai, who served on Iraq's Olympic committee under Uday Hussein before escaping abroad in the 1980s, also adds: "The greatest thing I can imagine is the 202 nations at the Games cheering as the Iraqi delegation arrives. We want to show the world that we are coming back, peacefully and with a sporting spirit, to share sports with everybody." The Olympic Committee has been set up only six months ago and it has successfully raced against time to assemble the Iraqi team to compete in Athens. In another profile of Iraq's Olympic Committee, Al Samarrai says:

"The most important part is we are here. It doesn't matter if we don't win a medal. We've already got the best medal: the friendship and support from everyone. This is our first step in a 1,000-mile journey for Iraqi sports. We will move ahead with sports while our country recovers and eventually, I believe peace will win."

The Iraqi Olympic team has been flown from Baghdad to Athens by the Royal Australian Air Force. In the words of Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer: "It's very appropriate that a country like Australia, which has helped to free the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein, should play a role in getting their Olympic team to the Olympic Games. I think there's a nice symbolism about that."

The Iraqi soccer team, by the way, has just upset Portugal with a 4-2 win in the Olympic competition. "This victory will be received with happiness by my people, who have suffered through much," said Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad.

ECONOMY: In oil news, the Iraqi Oil Ministry announced that it plans to dig 2000 new oil wells and extend the existing oil pipelines by 3000 kilometers in 2005. In the meantime, the Iraqi authorities are planning to construct four new oil refineries in central and southern Iraq.

Just how much oil there is in Iraq is uncertain. To find out the capacity of its two largest oil field (at Rumaila in the south and Kirkuk in the north), the Oil Ministry has invited bids from 16 Western companies to conduct the most up to date and most technologically advanced evaluation of oil reserves in two decades. "Determining how much oil is in the ground and how it can best be recovered are essential first steps in rebuilding and modernizing the Iraqi oil industry... More reliable data on Iraq's oil could also help calm turbulent commodity markets, where futures prices have soared to new records, in part on fears of supply shortages and disruptions from terrorism."

The expectations are also high regarding the current levels of oil production: "Iraqi Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban said he expected his country's oil exports to average between 1.7 million and 1.8 million barrels per day next month. Ghadhban said in Abu Dhabi average exports in July would be 1.5 million bpd. Iraq is currently producing 2.4 million bpd, out of a capacity of 2.8 million bpd, he added. 'We want to exceed three million barrels per day (production capacity) next year,' Ghadhban said."

In other oil export news, the Minister has recently announced "that officials in Kuwait have formed a joint committee to explore ways of cooperation in the fields of oil and natural gas. Al-Ghadban told reporters... that future cooperation will include supplying Kuwait with natural gas. He added that the talks with the minister had focused on bilateral and strategic cooperation in the energy sphere. The Iraqi senior official declared that Iraq was keen to cooperate with Kuwaiti private firms in developing oil fields in Iraq, such as the Seibah field in the southern city of Basra. He added that Iraqi oil workers will be trained by Kuwaiti oil well firefighters, highlighting their expertise in handling oil field fire accidents." Across the eastern border, Iranian firm Petroiran Company is conducting a feasibility study of participation in Iraqi oil projects. Taipei-based Chinese Petroleum Corp is also evaluating potential future projects in the country, now that economic sanctions against Iraq have been lifted.

In other energy news, German firm Elbe Maschinenbau has signed an agreement to build three new power plants in Iraq: "A 550-megawatt and a 100-megawatt plant are planned, while the deal gives the Hamburg-based company an option on a 240-megawatt facility. It will be the company's first project with the Iraqi energy ministry." Again, to provide some context, the Iraqi blogger Zayed has some interesting things to say about the electricity supply during Saddam's time and today:

"In Basrah city it has been the same for over a month, 3 hours of power followed by 3 without. At the village where I work, it sometimes goes out for a whole day or more, and sometimes it stays on for a full day at random intervals, no rationing system over here it seems. Needless to say that Basrah (the whole south in general) used to get 2-3 hours of power a day for the last 12 years in order for Baghdad to get a relatively stable supply of power...

"As to what people do when the power goes out. It is a long established fact that the majority of Iraqis now own generators (usually 1-5 kV units) or have subscribed to the various 'neighbourhood generators' which were formerly government property. One Ampere usually costs 10,000 Dinars (about 6 dollars) a month. There are some streets in Baghdad where a vehicle higher than 10 feet cannot go through because of the network of wires and cables that go across the street."

In other electricity news, thanks to three newly constructed power stations, farmers in the Anbar region in the middle Euphrates governorate can rely on an uninterrupted 12-hour supply of power for their water pumps to produce the most famous rice in the region.

In manufacturing news, Dr. Hajim Al- Hassani, the Minister for Industry has announced that the Iraqi government is negotiating with General Motors the construction of a car factory, which would produce annually some 90,000 salon cars and 30,000 pick up trucks.

And the Iraqi insurance industry is rebuilding, as domestic providers resume their service and foreign entrants eye the market. As the report comments, "It's one more small example of how, despite the awful security situation and the dashed hopes over jobs, basic services and reconstruction, Iraqis are grasping at normalcy."

On the trade front, even the past history and the current tense relations with Iran have not prevented an Iran-Iraq Joint Economic Commission meeting taking place in Tehran. The meeting, attended by 700 Iraqi government officials, had on its agenda the development of greater economic cooperation between the two countries. Already, three Iranian banks have been given permission to open branches in Iraq, and the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) has signed an agreement with the Iraqi Trade Bank, under which "Iranian banks will facilitate the opening of letters of credit for Iraqi tradesmen in Iranian banks... The agreement [also] lays down incentives for bolstering Iran-Iraq economic cooperation." According to Dr. Nowrouz Kahzadi, the director-general of the Iranian Export Development Bank, the volume of trade between the two countries is expected to reach between $3 and $4 billion annually.

Meanwhile, across the southern border, a meeting is expected to be held over the next three months between Saudi and Iraqi businessmen to discuss increased economic cooperation between the two countries. And across the northern border, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce has recently announced the establishment of the Iraq Board to assist Turkish businesspeople who want to engage in trade with Iraq.

There are already some positive flow-ons for the rest of the region from the growth of Iraqi economy: "The Middle East's marine coatings industry is growing, with more ships entering the Gulf since the end of the Iraq war, according to a leading supplier. Saudi-based Sigma Coatings, part of the global SigmaKalon group, one of the region's leading marine paint suppliers, has seen business pick up post-Saddam."

In order to further develop Iraqi private sector, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a $12.3 million grant to the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) to implement the Iraq Private Sector Development Initiative:

"The VEGA Iraq Private Sector Development Initiative will establish new business centers and work through existing centers throughout the country to provide training and technical assistance to businesses of all sizes.

"VEGA will leverage access to over 20,000 volunteer advisors and experts covering all industrial and business sectors to provide Iraqi businesses with exposure to successful business methods. Services will include training courses, business kits, and technical assistance to businesses. Additionally, assistance will be provided to firms to compete for procurements under supplemental funds."

Meanwhile, the Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced the date of the Destination Baghdad EXPO, which will now be held on December 15th, 2004 on the site of the historical Baghdad International Fair grounds. Says Raad Ommar, the CEO of the Chamber: "We are determined more than ever before to make DBX Baghdad the single most important international trade and business networking event in the last 10 years in Iraq. There is but one hope and choice for all private businessmen and public sector officials in Iraq, and that is to reveal Baghdad as it truly is, a vibrant city, able and ready to welcome the world business community, making them feel free and safe to conduct business and begin in earnest the rebuilding of Iraq."

This will become easier now that the Baghdad international airport is reconstructed and fully in Iraqi hands. Minister for Transport is using this occasion to invite Arab and other foreign airlines to resume direct flight to Iraq.

Iraq has not been a popular tourist destination under Saddam and the current security situation is still too uncertain to allow tourism to thrive, but given time and some stability, Iraq has much to offer the visitors, particularly those interested in the country's rich historical and cultural heritage. In the meantime, before you pack your bags to go and see Babylon, you can read this story about Western entrepreneurs and Iraqi officials who are trying to resurrect the Iraqi tourism industry. The British Government is also doing its bit to help; the Department for International Development is now providing funding to develop and publicize Iraq's nascent tourism industry:

"Sightseeing tours would include the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, dating back to 3,000BC, and marshlands thought to be the location of the Garden of Eden... Basra - regarded by some as the Venice of the East with its lush gardens and lagoons... [and] the capital, Baghdad... packed with ancient bazaars, restaurants, museums, palaces, mosques and shrines."

In the agricultural sector, the once world-famous Iraqi date industry is beginning to rebuild after decades of decline:

"Iraq's string of wars in the last 20 years, the Iran-Iraq conflict, the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion, not to mention pollution, have blighted date trees, a symbol of Iraq... What was once 'the country of millions of date palms' has seen the number of its trees fall from 33 million in 1958 to 13 million today.

"After oil, dates were once the country's second largest exports. They were smuggled -- like oil products -- by wooden boats down the Gulf in defiance of UN sanctions during the last 13 years of Saddam Hussein's rule... Senior officials in the former regime, including Saddam's elder son Uday, who chaired a date-exporting company, lined their pockets with the industry's takings."

But there is fresh hope: "In an effort to restart the industry, a 400-million-dollar project to plant 160,000 trees over eight years began in April, financed by the Iraqi interim administration and the US Agency for International Development (USAID)."

Lastly, a good news-bad news scenario: the bad news is the new Iraqi dinar is now selling at 1,460 to $1; the good news is the trade in dinars is thriving on the Internet:

"Internet auctioneer eBay, for example, lists 622 auctions of new Iraqi dinars, in lots from 1,000 to 5 million. Dozens of Web sites, such as www.BuyDinarsHere.com, www.DinarTrade.com and www.InvestInDinar.com, sell dinars to U.S. investors."

"The lure: Investors remember that the Kuwaiti dinar plunged to 10 cents after Iraq invaded Kuwait. It's worth $3.39 now. The Iraqi dinar sold for as much as $3 before the first Gulf War.

"And Iraq sits on the world's second-largest oil reserves, an enormous asset. 'Even if it goes up to one penny per dinar, that's a lot of money,' says Mahmoud Shalabi, president of SilverDinar.com. Currently, a 250,000 dinar note is worth about $171. At a penny per dinar, the same note would be worth $2,500."

RECONSTRUCTION: On the reconstruction front, a slow but steady progress:

"US agencies and prime contractors involved with the various reconstruction projects being undertaken in Iraq met in Baghdad last week for the Iraq Engineer Summit. The meeting focused on future goals, strategies and ideals for the mission.

"Retired Rear Admiral David Nash, director of the Project and Contracting Office (PCO), opened the event by stating that current reconstruction efforts are occurring at rapid speeds. 'The effort is the fastest ever moved in the history of the world. We are doing $50 million in construction every week'...

"The number of projects that the $12.6 billion will fund has risen from 2,300 to more than 2,800. The decision to split large projects into several smaller projects was approved last week in an effort to achieve faster completion rates for the reconstruction of Iraqi-life necessities."

Elsewhere, Admiral Nash explains that the Iraq Project and Contracting Office had employed 80,000 Iraqis each day in the past week and; 100 job sites have opened across Iraq and 900 more are expected to open over the next few months. The report goes on:

"Much media focus has been on $800 million paid out to contractors so far, a tiny portion of the $18.4bn. But Nash says the key number is $7bn 'obligated' for work in Iraq and $11.1bn set aside, or apportioned for work. 'That obligated amount means we have solid contracts and the only way we can get out of that work is to terminate a contract,' said Nash."

"Normally, the sounds of hammering would be an annoyance in this health clinic, but young Iraqi mothers with small children pay little heed to the construction din overhead...

" 'The American ... army has done this beautiful thing,' says Dr. Sarra'a Abdul Jalil Habib, senior doctor in the Al-Zewyia clinic. 'They are rehabilitating everything, the air conditioning, the furniture, even the instruments'."

It's not all smooth sailing, by any means, as the above extensive report demonstrates, though its authors note that "the pace has picked back up."

For those tens of thousands of Iraqis working on the reconstruction projects, these are the "dream jobs." Says Kareem Sajid, a father of four, who works on the construction of one of the Iraq's largest landfills outside Baghdad: "I am very happy as this is the best day, when we get paid... It is the highest pay a labourer can get in Baghdad. I am sure my family can now relax for the next two weeks... Believe me, this is dream pay for someone like me who was virtually jobless until this project started in June." Sajid is paid a daily wage of 10,000 Iraqi dinars; before he used to make 50,000 per month.

In some places, the reconstruction faces additional challenges: Sadr City, the section of Baghdad inhabited by poor Shia population, provides one such example. At this report explains, "[t]he public housing quarter built in the 1950s to house about 500,000 people now holds five times that many, and its services haven't been updated since... A Shiite district, it was systematically deprived of basic services under Hussein's Sunni regime, breeding a surly attitude toward outsiders." Now, the 1st Cavalry Division is spending $500 million to improve Baghdad's infrastructure and Sadr City is one of the heavily targeted areas. "[T]he engineers in concert with USAID and other US funding sources now have about 10,000 people working on sewage and water projects... They are also clearing blockages in the city's main sewage lines, and upgrading water-purification and pumping capacity. The engineers have more than $125 million in sewage and water projects that have just begun, or are scheduled to start soon." All this is very badly needed in an area where basic infrastructure is almost completely lacking and unhygienic conditions make disease outbreaks not uncommon.

"After years of war and neglect, the Amariya Fire Station celebrated the completion of a major effort to restore it to a fully functional firehouse replete with fire trucks.

"Soldiers from the 425th Civil Affairs Battalion and Company A, 91st Engineers, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division along with Amariya firefighters and members of the Baghdad press club officially marked the occasion with a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 5."

On the electricity front, the Iraqi Ministry of Planning has just announced an allocation of $1.5 billion to assist in development of modern electricity network throughout the country. One of the American experts who had helped Iraqis off to a good start is Jim Hicks, a retired Duke Energy Corp executive:

"When Hicks arrived in Iraq on March 8, with soaring summer temperatures approaching, the coalition wanted to have 6,000 megawatts of available power by June 30, enough for about 15 hours a day of electricity for the country. It was Hicks' job to shepherd the project through.

"The coalition failed to meet its goal. Too many sabotage attempts, bombings and security risks hampered progress. But Hicks feels he and the CPA did as good a job as possible, reaching 5,000 megawatts, and he says the legacy of the CPA's work goes beyond the new power plants and transmission lines installed."

It's not just the Americans who are rebuilding Iraq, of course. The British Department of International Development is commencing another program to generate employment in southern Iraq: "The £6m Southern Iraq Employment and Services Programme (SIESP) aims to provide 1.75 million days of employment throughout the four Southern provinces in Iraq by the end of 2004. Specific projects will be determined by Provincial Councils and are expected to include construction work, support for irrigation and sewerage systems, and improvements to public areas." Great Britain has already spent 330 million pounds ($602 million) on humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Iraq. And in another positive step, Saudi Arabia has agreed to start releasing shortly $1 billion promised last year for reconstruction.

HUMANITARIAN AID: While the Coalition forces, Iraqi authorities and other governments continue with the reconstruction on the macro level, individuals and communities throughout the United States and elsewhere in the West are doing their best to help on the grass-roots level.

"While I was in Iraq I became concerned with the conditions facing children and schools. I became most concerned with the plight of orphan and fatherless children who had to work to support themselves and their remaining families, if any, instead of being able to attend school. Some of these children work on the streets for as much as 12 hours a day, in temperatures that reach as high as 125 degrees, while earning as little as the equivalent of 2 cents to as much as 2 dollars a day. Some of these children are as young as 4 years old. I was able to help one boy to return to school instead of working on the streets of Mosul."

Now, this small organization, run and largely supported by military personnel, is already sponsoring 40 Iraqi kids and three local schools. David adds: "We work to help all children living in the Nineveh Province of Iraq without regard to ethnic group or religion. We hope by helping these children to earn a better future that we can help build peace and understanding in the region. Our motto is 'Education is Liberation' and mandatory school attendance is required from all of the sponsored children." Visit their website and see if you can make a difference.

Some find ways to combine fun with charity: the annual block party in Gurnee's Providence Oaks neighborhood (Illinois) this year hosted Col. Charles Schwartzmann of Vernon Hills who is trying to help soldiers in Iraq with fund-raising for two orphanages. The residents ended up not only enjoying themselves but also donating some useful things for the good cause in Iraq. There's an idea for your next neighborhood or community function.

If you want to find out how you can contribute to various charity efforts to help Iraqi kids get to school, make sure to check out the list of contacts compiled by an Iraqi-American blogger Fayrouz.

COALITION TROOPS: The Coalition forces continue to help rebuild Iraq. In Ninevah province, for example, "Soldiers from the 13th Corps Support Command joined local sheiks and community leaders to open a new primary school in Bu-Hassan, near Balad, today. The 29th Signal Battalion from Fort Lewis, Wash., sponsored the construction of the Al Salam School, which was built from the ground up in about six months. The Army provided about $80,000 for construction, but members of the community and local contractors did the planning and work. The school is one of more than 30 local infrastructure and water projects being managed by the 13th Corps Support Command civil affairs staff. Since January, the command has spent more than $2.7 million to improve local schools, clinics and irrigation systems."

"Although the engineers from the Army Reserve's 458th, 411th, and 980th engineer battalions and the Arkansas National Guard's 239th Engineer Company produce large clouds of dirt, [a restaurant owner Muhan Hassan Mizaal] al-Saadi couldn't be happier. He believes today's dust is tomorrow's prosperity for his restaurant and the handful of others bordering the park.

"Nearly five dozen soldiers have been clearing and grading land in the nearly mile-long, 100-meter-wide park, which runs along the east bank of the Tigris river in Rusafa, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, for the past few weeks."

Elsewhere, the American soldier are protecting from sabotage the Haditha Dam, "the second-largest of eight hydroelectric dams in Iraq. Its output - 670 megawatts when the water flow is strong - serves to stabilize the entire Iraqi power grid, increasing output when needed, reducing it when not. And irrigation canals that feed a wide swath of rice fields south of the dam depend on a steady flow of water, held in the big lake during winter and spring when snows melt in the Turkish mountains."

To get some idea of the professionalism of the troops in Iraq, read this story of the Coalition medical personnel treating an insurgent and would-be suicide bomber for his self-inflicted shrapnel wounds. Says Lt. Col. Arthur Delorimier, 210th Forward Support Battalion, 10th Mountain Division who treated the man: "The more of the story I heard, the more angry I got, but I was still able to do my job and realized I am a professional and I'm going to take care of this guy. If I was the doctor taking care of Saddam Hussein, I would still have bad feelings about it, but I would have bitten my tongue and taken care of him just like I do with any of my patients. It's the professional thing to do."

Lastly, assistance is on the way for the Coalition troops as they continue to train the new Iraqi security forces: NATO countries have finally reached an agreement to provide resources for training the Iraqi military. Around 40 NATO officers are expected in Bahgdad shortly, and another few hundred over the next few months.

SECURITY AND DIPLOMACY: To coincide with the 14th anniversary of Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, the new Iraqi leadership, including Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and several of his top ministers, have paid a three-day official visit to their southern neighbor in order to open a new chapter in the Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations. In another diplomatic closure, President Bush has officially scrapped sanctions put in place by his father 14 years ago in response to Saddam's invasion of Kuwait.

Kurds are also expanding their foreign ties. Recently, a delegation led by a Kurdish leader, Nechirvan Idris Barzani, has visited Taiwan to hold talks about possible future cooperation. The visit has focused mainly on prospects of agricultural, economic and technological exchanges. The Kurdish delegation has also visited South Korea to promote friendly relations between the two peoples. Barzani has welcomed the deployment of the South Korean troops to the Kurdish areas and promised closed security cooperation between the troops and Kurdish pashmerga militias.

Back home, Iraq the Model blog provides the most up to date and most interesting perspective on security situation, all from an Iraqi perspective. In other developments, the training of the new Iraqi armed forces continues at a respectable pace. 711 Iraqi Army squad leadershave recently graduated from their training. The Iraqi army is set to expand over the next few months from around 3,000 trained troops to 20,000 soldiers, or 27 battalions. The 711 newly graduated non-commissioned officers will be deployed to those units to in turn take on training duties:

"At the Kirkush army base in the country's east, Iraqi soldiers now put new recruits through drills, teach them how to fire weapons and battle insurgents who attack Iraqi security forces just as much as US-led coalition troops in the country.

" 'Virtually all the training is now being done by Iraqis. All you see coalition soldiers doing at this point is advising and assisting,' said Brigadier General James Schwitters, commander of the coalition's Iraqi army training programme."

It's not just training, but also equipment and logistics that are staring to flow to Iraqi security forces, following the lifting of the arms embargo against Iraq:

"Iraqi security forces received 'massive shipments' of weapons and material from coalition partners in the last week, as the security effort to assist the Iraqi government in equipping its forces continues...

"As of July 28, Iraqi army, coastal defense, air, and National Guard forces had received more than 2,500 vehicles, 600 radios, 55,000 weapons and 25,000 pieces of body armor. Interior ministry forces, including police, border enforcement and facilities protection services, had received more than 6,800 vehicles, 14,000 radios, 101,000 weapons, and nearly 46,000 pieces of body armor.

There are already some significant successes for the security forces. In one incident, Kurdish military authorities foil potentially one of the largest terrorist attacks in recent months when after a shoot-out at a checkpoint terrorist abandon a car laden with explosives. Elsewhere, a positive security development of an irregular nature, as fighters employed by the tribal leaders in Fallujah to combat crime and kidnappings stage a raid on kidnappers' safe house and rescue four Jordanian hostages.

Aside from practical results, there are certainly perception benefits in having Iraqis take care of their own security:

"Faleh al-Asadi, 46, a high-school history teacher, was driving home when he spotted two Nissan pickups trucks with blue-and-white police markings blocking the street, allowing only one car to pass at a time.

"But rather than grumbling at the slowdown, he was delighted to see local police in action. 'This is what we want from the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis,' he said. 'I feel safe and comfortable with the police spreading out into the streets, with fewer United States patrols and checkpoints'."

Last, but not least, in the non-proliferation news, "[i]nspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog have completed an inventory of Iraq's declared nuclear material... The routine survey of Iraq's stocks of natural and low-enriched uranium accounted for all the material remaining in the country."

In the coming weeks, the pages of our newspapers and our TV screen will be full of reports of Iraqi planes falling out of the sky. But as you watch another story about a kidnapping in Baghdad or read another report about the growing violence in Mosul, try to remember those 999 - or even only 990 - Iraqi planes that are everyday taking off and landing safely, carrying onboard millions of Iraqis on their new journey to a better, normal tomorrow.